I thought that when I got my sleep apnea diagnosis, that -- at last! -- all my sleep problems had come to an end.Ha!I have trouble falling asleep. Indeed, I rarely feel sleepy at night although I do feel tired. I even cut back on computer at night, etc., etc. (and installed f.lux on my computer) but I still had trouble. Now I'm doing something different: wearing special glasses (Uvex S1933X Skyper Safety Eyewear glasses). They block out the blue -- and they're making a difference! First I tried…See More

"just add to the distilled water
it is antimicrobial eg cleans your machine and is beneficial for keeping you healthy from bugs germs viruses you get the picture
and when you need to clean the humidifier out, put water on your plants the silver…"

"I Andy, I realize I'm months behind your post. I have no idea why your S8 would stoop collecting data. I'm glad to hear you're having such improvement with your apnea. I have made great strides since I changed…"

"Hi Richard, I don't bother with a humidifier. Someone on the forum suggested not using it and I'm a lot less congested without it. A good AHI is under 5. I use the Wisp and have been since it came out. I think…"

a humidifier can be used with colloidal silverthis can keep the humidifier clean for day maybe weeks or longer without the need to clean the humidifiersilver colloidal is antimicrobial and you could just top up your humidifier without cleaning and at the same time treat your bodyor you just put silver on it own into the humidifierSee More

CPAP pressure vs. the air that escapes from the front of the mask

One of the downsides to my CPAP therapy is that whenever I face the middle of the bed, I have to block the front of my mask becuase the air that blows from the holes above my nose bugs my wife. So, my question, is if my machine is set at 13, am I really getting this much pressure, since there seems to be alot of air coming out of the front of the mask? I am guessing the reason this air blows from the front of the mask is to deal with carbon dioxide that we all exhale, but, does this air escape affect the pressure setting and the level of therapy provided by CPAP? I'm not talking about mask leaks, but, this is the air that escapes thru the holes that are naturally in the mask when it was produced. Thanks,

Replies to This Discussion

to rephrase your question, you're asking whether any of the prescribed pressure "leaks" on inhalation, not on exhalation, which we all know to occur, and if it doesn't leak on inhalation, why not because there are holes there? I'm fairly sure that none of the air leaks on inhalation, just on exhalation, so that if you're prescribed 13 cm of water pressure you do in fact get delivered 13 cm of water pressure, but we'll see what the pros have to say.

Not sure how the end user product flow rate works, but in the lab at 13cmwp our machines fluctuate from abou 12.5 to 13.1cmwp. I could not imagine a true consistancy in any type of airflow. too many parameters. Hose length, does it have a bend or a kink in it, type of mask, type of cpap unit. The machines job is to keep you as tuned into your sleep number as it possibly can. I think for the most part they do this well. As for the air vent in front of your mask, I would not advise covering it. This is for co2 to escape during exhalation. This will for one cause laeks in your mask by making it rise of off your face. also we would not want you to suffocate. Not a major worry but it could happen as the high amounts of co2 could cause problems.

The pressure largely depends on wheter the machine has leak compensation. If it does then it should adapt to medium leak amounts. The mask problem can usually be overcome by changing the mask to a mask that vents not directly forward. The mask should leak at around 24l per minute by itself.

The air that leaks out of nthe front of the mask. It's supposed to...1.) as a vent. To get rid of the nasty bi-products of resperation. 2.) if the power goes off you'll have some way to breathe until you wake up, and take off your mask.

So it's supposed to do that? I hadn't noticed it at first, but in the last week, it seems to have suddenly appeared? Could be just me not noticing until recently. Is it supposed to come out around the plastic tube that the longer tubing connects to?

So it's supposed to do that? I hadn't noticed it at first, but in the last week, it seems to have suddenly appeared? Could be just me not noticing until recently. Is it supposed to come out around the plastic tube that the longer tubing connects to?

Oh my gosh I have been dizzy for several weeks since I got my new mask. From this forum I think I just figured out that I covered the exhale hole when I got it and now have too much C02 in my system!!! No one ever told me not to cover that hole or what is was for.....yikes....

Thank you so much for this info, you really helped me out as I had no idea what that hole was for and I have been light headed for weeks!!! You would think the doctor or med equipment people would tell you this stuff....

Duane McDade said:

The air that leaks out of nthe front of the mask. It's supposed to...1.) as a vent. To get rid of the nasty bi-products of resperation. 2.) if the power goes off you'll have some way to breathe until you wake up, and take off your mask.

... so that if you're prescribed 13 cm of water pressure you do in fact get delivered 13 cm of water pressure, but we'll see what the pros have to say.

I would expect the pros to be less than enthusiastic on the idea of water pressure..... ;-)

Besides the practical reasons for the vents, I'm glad they are there, sometimes I put my hand in front of my mask to make sure the machine is on, otherwise I'm not sure if it is. My husband has noticed the "breeze" too - I don't think it bothered him though.